The risk that Iraq might fall apart
Covid-19, militias and a cratering economy all threaten the central state
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IN SADR CITY, the vast shantytown east of Baghdad, cars still pack the roads, pilgrims still pray at shrines and people still gather in shops. Many see covid-19 as either a Zionist hoax or a fast track to paradise, so they feel no obligation to comply with the government’s order to stay inside. The government itself seems unprepared. Iraq claims to have just 1,122 cases of the virus, but it is accused of minimising the number. Its public hospitals are not equipped to handle a big outbreak.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline "Dark times ahead"
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